Fife house prices: 1.3% drop but long-term trend still positive

But the drop does not reverse the longer-term trend, which has seen property prices in the area grow by 1% over the last year. The average house price in January was £169,568, Land Registry figures show – a 1.3% decrease on December. Over the month, the picture was different to that across Scotland, where prices increased 1.3%, and Fife was lower than the 0.5% rise for the UK as a whole.

Over the last year, the average sale price of property in Fife rose by £1,600 – putting the area 24th among Scotland’s 32 local authorities with price data for annual growth.

First-time buyers spent an average of £134,800 on their property – £530 more than a year ago, and £26,200 more than in January 2019. By comparison, former owner-occupiers paid £202,980 on average in January – 50.6% more than first-time buyers.

Owners of flats saw the biggest fall in property prices in Fife in January – they dropped 1.9% in price, to £102,007 on average. Over the last year, prices dropped by 0.6%.

Among other types of property: Detached: down 0.5% monthly; up 3.2% annually; £315,096 average; Semi-detached: down 1.1% monthly; up 2.3% annually; £180,299 average; Terraced: down 1.5% monthly; up 0.2% annually; £138,560 average

Buyers paid 10.9% less than the average price in Scotland (£190,000) in January for a property in Fife. Across Scotland, property prices are low compared to those across the UK, where the average cost is £282,000.